The Approval Process

When I posted the original article, I never expected it to gain as much fame as it did. I believe there's more to the argument than people are giving me credit for.
Read with an open mind, and remember, I have feelings. I don't like waking up to hate mail about how I should stop complaining or change my ways. These are my thoughts, not yours.

Date submitted: February 10, 2012

“It seems that when you submit something, it takes weeks, perhaps even months for it to be approved. Everything is always published on the website, is it not? Has anyone ever received a letter saying your article was not approved and will never will be? I don't think so. Why not just post everything up right away so we no longer have to wait and wait to see our work up online.”

One measly, little article posted on a whim months and months ago. Over three-hundred comments, telling me to stop whining and get on with my life. There are, of course, the occasional remarks about agreeing with me. I really do appreciate those. Thank you, people, who remember I have a heart. I hate waking up to seeing nasty comments on something that wasn’t even seriously written. When I wrote that paragraph up, I was twelve? Maybe thirteen, at most. I was naïve and showed it. I understand that. Of course, you all probably assumed I was a bit older and just wanted to reign Hell on the site. Thank you, again, to the people who did not think that, because I repeat: I was twelve. I wasn’t even upset by the comments, honestly. They were just bumping my article back up to the top spot over and over again for a few seconds of fame before it was knocked down by another article. It was when I received a comment about how poorly my paragraph was written that I was intrigued. Did you honestly think a one-paragraph article was meant to be literary gold? Did you think I was aiming for an award? No, I wasn’t, in case you were wondering. I was aiming to share my opinion and gather opinions back on the matter. I did not ask for the writing to be judged. I did not ask to be barked at or glared at through a computer screen. Now, my emotions on the matter are spent. I just have a few things to say, seeing as my comments are never approved, despite the fact that I deserve another chance at this argument. First, the editing process is slow. Do not tell me it isn’t. You wait and wait and wait just to see the article posted. In that time, they edit nothing. That time could have been spent gathering commentary and critiques from other users of the site. Second, a lot of people are telling me that the articles must be monitored so there is no sex or cursing or extreme violence. Those things are three that make up the world we live in. They are found in society. They are found in the news. They are found in our daily lives. By censoring those topics, our freedom is censored. Besides, do you really think someone would post a pornography piece on the site, just for laughs and smiles? If they were that low, they would be in need of serious help. Also, do you not agree that a user would report it immediately? As far as the monitoring system goes, I see is at a chain against us. I see it as a chance for the administrators to dictate us, like we are only children. Do you think authors in the published society are told they cannot have sex scenes in their novels? Do you think they are told their work will never be shown to the world, simply because someone thought it was too explicit? Third, I know not to criticize without offering another option. There is another site for writers with wonderful users and a good system. Projects are posted right away, without the glaring light of administrators looking them over. I have yet to see something inappropriate or disturbing on the sight. If you are looking for another option, check out inkpop.com. I am not trying to persuade you to switch sites. I am not an inkpop fanatic here to turn you over to our side. I am simply defending my argument as previously stated in a way that I hope you understand. I know there will be more negative comments. There will be more people judging me and criticizing me, but I do not care. As an author, I am ready to take the hits. -By the writer of “How Long Submissions Take to be Approved” (posted as Anonymous)

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I agree with you Casey. I mean, from what I've seen around the site, (Forums, the home page, the "About us." page, TeenInk is all about teens expressing themselves. Should we be proibited from expressing ourselves if our feelings concern sex, explicit content etc? Now I understand what Sketched97 is saying about Schools using TeenInk as an academic standard, but schools would only use the magazine for the most part, yes? Teenink decides what goes in their magazine, they don't h... (more »)

Unlike inkpop, TeenInk is academically inclined. Many schools receive print copies and TeenInk relies on their financial support, therefore TeenInk must hold themselves to a higher standard. The process they employ helps avoid spam and inappropriate material.
Your claim about the monitoring system being "a chain against us [...] like we are only children" is absolutely absurd. We are children, thus the name TeenInk. TeenInk censors inappropriate language and extremely explicit ... (more »)